Communication in Spain

Spain's country code is 34. So when you are dialling to Spain, you need to first dial 00 34  then the number.

If you are calling the UK from Spain, you need to dial 00 44 then miss out the first 0 of the area code.

For example, if you were calling us on our 0870 number from Spain, the number would be: 00 44 870 763 0422

Telefónica is the main landline telephone service in Spain..

You will soon get frustrated with trying to get a phone line put in via Telefónica! You can wait up to 18 months! In the village in the mountains where we used to live (even though  Telefónica are obliged to supply landline phones), we found  that we could not receive a landline phone for the next couple of years at least. We used satellite broadband.

The Government owns 40% of Telefónica.

With Telefónica, calls are reasonably priced. However, many expats use a  "re-seller" service which are now commonplace both in the UK and Spain. Tele2 (you prefix your calls with '1073') offers very cheap calls to Europe, USA, and Canada, and calls at around .03 euros per minute within Spain. Some expats recommend   Aló (prefix is '1053').  Take a look at their web sites to get the full rates.

If you are actually able to get a telephone installed, the cost varies between 150 and 250 Euros depending on whether you are resident or non-resident.

If there is an existing telephone line into the property, simply contact Telefónica to get your name put on the account. This is free.

At the end of the day, if you need a phone line for your property, and there isn't one there already, our advice to you is that you should equip yourself with a mobile phone whilst you are waiting! Ask around for the best service provider and the best signal.

Mobile Phones

Mobiles are, in our view, a necessary evil. In the village where we live, we can't get a landline (we've tried for a year with absolutely no success) so we use mobiles for communication with the outside world.

Unfortunately, in our previous property we could not get a mobile signal unless we walk up the hill and stand on one leg next to the tin roof of the goat farm!

Thankfully, we came across a company that supplies outdoor aerials .It meant having to go on Vodafone, but the joy of being able to make and receive calls after a year without any communication inside the house was overwhelming....

We simply mounted the small box-like aerial on the wall, and got a full signal.

Such bliss.... it cost us about 250 Euros, but in our view it was worth every centimo.

Making calls from the UK to Spain via mobiles

Every mobile operator in the UK offers 'International' - the facility to make calls to a mobile in Spain from your mobile in the UK. If you are a new customer, some may charge a deposit of around £250.

Making calls from Spain via your UK mobile

This is when it starts to get a little complicated, so we will try and keep it as simple as possible!

Using your UK mobile in Spain is called 'roaming' as opposed to International

Example: You have a Vodafone mobile, purchased in the UK that you have taken to Spain with you.

You want to make a call to your local restaurant in Spain to book a table.

If you use your UK mobile, you will be charged International call rates, even though the restaurant is only a kilometere or two away!

If you phone home to the UK, you will go through one of the carriers for Spain such as Amena, or Movistar. These calls will then be put on your own mobile bill.

So the easiest thing to do in Spain is to buy a mobile over there to make all your local calls - otherwise you will have a real shock when the bill comes in! Our first bill for making calls to estate agents, notary, friends etc was £370.52p for 3 weeks.

Ouch.....

We have found a couple of brilliant services to help you through the mobile maze: Choose ether of the following.

1) If you have a Vodafone mobile or a 'sim free' mobile

(sim free means that it is a dual band phone other than Vodafone, not tied to or in contract with any network)

You can buy a Vodafone sim card, with 18 Euros of calls already on it.

These sim cards will save you an absolute fortune when making local calls in Spain. When the 18 Euros runs out, pop into virtually anywhere to get a top up card for the sim.

 Internet Services

Internautas [Spanish] Everything you could want to know about the state of the Internet in Spain. They give free help, too.

Internet Service Providers in Spain A partial list.

Onspanishtime tech services If you're in Madrid and need help getting an Internet connection, here's an expat who can help you for a reasonable fee.

Modem:

The Internet is free in Spain -- at least until you get your phone bill. Local calls are not free (around ,06 euros/minute with Telefónica or ,01 euros/minute with Tele2). An alternative is to sign up for Tarifa plana. That means you pay a flat rate to the ISP rather than paying for the local calls. The rates depend on whether you include peak time or not (peak time in Spain is M-F 8AM - 6PM).

The rates don't seem to vary much from company to company. Wanadoo offers various rates depending on how many hours of peak time you plan to use per month. If you need to use a lot of hours of peak time per month, then ADSL (below) is more economical.

Cable Modem:

A sample fee for Supercable in Sevilla: 40 euros/month, plus 18 euros installation. If you're living in an area with narrow labyrinthine streets, though (like Sevilla centro), it may be a long time before this option is available.

ADSL:

Through Terra, Wanadoo, Ya.com, or others -- all are about the same. This is for 24hr/day internet access, plus you can receive phone calls while connected. This has gotten cheaper now that the companies no longer send a technician to your house; they send you the package and you install it. Prices are around 39 euros/month. You choose between a modem with USB connection (free) or a DSL router (Ya.com offers this for 139 euros). Note that actual incoming speed during the afternoon peak times can be far lower than advertised. RDSI:

Another 24hr/day access option via Telefónica: for a while they were pushing this option because they were overstocked with RDSI modems, but ADSL makes more sense, since it's faster, cheaper, and you don't need to buy an extra phone line. 

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